Pobrecitos

I was chatting with buddy Kim of NuminosityBeads the other day and she called something or someone a "pobrecito". Being from the Midwest, Spanish isn't as prevalent in my lexicon as I'd like it be. Since I'm a word hound and love to pepper my conversations with obscure underused linguistic gems, I immediately googled this funny little term. Turns out a "pobrecito" is more or less a "poor little guy". What a perfect expression!

 You stubbed your pinkie toe--it's a pobrecito.

Your basset hound puppy trips over his big floppy ears--he's a pobrecito.

You always got picked last for the kickball team in gym class--you're a pobrecito (or pobrecita).

As I was in the midst of creating a silverworked agate drusy earring series several weeks ago, I found myself cooing over this wee lilac purple pair. So tiny, so easy to overlook, so easy to underappreciate next to their bigger, swankier mates. The earlier conversation with Kim was fresh in my mind, and voila, a star was born. 

To create these teeny post earrings I cut, soldered, filed, and sanded sterling silver sheet and bezel wire plus trios of my hand-cast cratered granules. Such a soft spring hue to usher in all the budding flowers, bulbs, and blooming trees. Squeal-worthy little babies.

So now you have a new word for the day--use it with abandon!

Happy Wednesday,
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Crocus, Anyone?

This morning I was admiring the recent posts here on the EE blog and was struck by the color palette--we all seem to be in the mood for spring pastels, including me, for once. I'm usually not one for pastels, as I prefer bold earthy darker hues. But the recent warmer weather, sunshine, and brisk breezes have me in the mood for crocus purple, anemone blue, and hyacinth pink. 

At Tucson this year I snagged a handful of matched agate drusy earring pairs in beautifully muted pastel hues. The adjective "glam" is not a word I would typically use to describe my jewelry, but when I saw these soft little drusies I was struck with a vision of sparkle. And so the past week I've been working on a series of metalworked post and drop earrings featuring these wondrous little miracles of nature.

This particular pair features a beautiful pair of amethyst drusies in soft lilac purple with a warm amber tinge. I created simple sterling silver bezels and then accented the shapes of the stones using some of my beloved cratered hand-cast granules. I wanted to design these post/stud earrings so that when worn, the shape and sparkle would really light up the curve of your lobes.


I'm still working my way through all 10 pairs of these, so stay tuned in about a week to see the results! 

 




Happy Wednesday and Happy Spring!

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Wake Up Little Drusy

This is just going to be a short post because I only just got back from 6 weeks of traveling and the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

I've managed to have gotten myself sick upon re-entry. I'll blame the gem show this time.

It even had a name "The Tucson Crud" because it was certainly going around many of the exhibition halls.

What we have here are some little drusy discs that I picked up at the gem show a few years ago. I haven't seen any offered since then in this nice wee size but I squirreled some away for myself.

These had a bit of yellow coloration which went well with the African powder glass spacers.

The silken mini squares are by Outwest. I don't buy a lot of lampwork being a lampworker myself  but she does such a good job with this shape I had to pick myself up a few. Somehow they make they yellow which I have hardest time working with all come together nicely.

The nice long earwires are by Faerystones on Etsy

Thanks for looking,

Numinositybeads by Kimberly

Is Your Bowl Full?

My mother has an expression that she uses often: "Is your bowl full?". Meaning are you content, are you happy, do you have enough? And we're not talking oatmeal, here. 

Some days are rich with family, friends, smiles, laughter, hugs, good times, accomplishments---and our bowls are full. Other days we may feel a little lonely, spread too thin, inadequate, hurt, worried---and our bowls may be waxing empty. 

It's a metaphor for the soul that I've always loved. My mother's poetic sensitivity is something she may not give herself credit for, but it's one of the (many) reasons I love her so much. So it's no coincidence that we have always been partial to collecting bowls. Little bowls, squat bowls, wide bowls, cracked bowls, it doesn't matter. 

The past couple of weeks my bowl has been less than full, so I've been creating less jewelry than usual. So I thought it would be very appropriate for me to dig into the "sold" folder and revisit a pair that relate to this idea of bowls. 


This pair is very simple...yet just enough. I drilled two wee crystal-studded geode halves and fitted each one with a gnarled hand-forged sterling silver paddle that I balled up on one end. My own long sterling ear wires complete the statement. 



Incredibly lightweight and fragile looking, yet rich with depth and surprising strength---much like the soul.

Happy Wednesday!

Nikki 
LoveRoot on Etsy